Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, the party office opposite Mantralaya, Chavan said, ``This is the time of political polarisation. In this general elections, the parties having one or four members will become irrelevant. It will be a direct fight between the Congress (I) and the Bharatiya Janata Party.''

Chavan also ruled out the possibility of a division of opposition votes due to the three cornered contest for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the State, which would directly benefit the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.

Chavan said the 13-month Government of the BJP-led alliance at the Centre had not done any people-oriented work and hence, they were harping only on the Pokharan nuclear tests and the Lahore bus diplomacy. He stated that his party would focus onthe stability factor and explain to the people that the Congress, even when it was in minority, provided good governance.

To a question, he said that Kargil was definitely a poll issue. ``The Congress wanted the Government to convene a Rajya Sabha session to discuss the Kargil infiltration and express solidarity with the Indian jawans. But, the Government did not listen to us.''

Chavan dismissed the opinion polls predicting victory of the BJP allies in the coming elections, saying that he did not not believe in the objectivity of such surveys. When asked about the reported statement made by Union Home Minister L K Advani that the BJP and its allies would accept support from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) during the formation of the Government after the elections, Chavan said, ``It was indeed known and we were presuming that this would happen.''